


Tournament Season

by TheShinobiFourteen



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25159261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShinobiFourteen/pseuds/TheShinobiFourteen
Summary: Edelclaude Week 2020: It's summer time, and what better way to work out all that excitement than to throw everyone into a series of tournaments. Because there's nothing more erotic than proving you and your friends' martial dominance over your crush and his/her friends.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/Claude von Riegan
Kudos: 6





	Tournament Season

Once the first few months of Officer’s Academy had passed, summer rolled around. Summer, otherwise known as tournament season. Where the mock battle had tested students’ teamwork with each other and their new professors, tournament season showcased each house’s skill in single combat, or simply prowess in a skill. Reportedly the professors had been advised to be a bit hands-off with the preparation for this series of events, which meant each of the house leaders were up to their necks in schoolwork and preparing their classmates for a good showing. Each tournament concentrated in a weapon or skill- the first was the magic tournament. Each house was allowed two representatives, and the remaining spots in the tournament were filled by squires in the Knights of Seiros.

For his part, Claude was grateful that Lysithea was eager to volunteer as one of the representatives for the Golden Deer, but convincing Marianne to be the other turned out to be as painful as pulling teeth. Not that he actually knew. Nevertheless, she’d been convinced, though it took Claude promising her that she could forfeit her turn if she needed to. This in turn meant if the other houses had willing contenders, it was very likely the Deer would be in dead last- an incredibly strong showing for the opening tournament. Claude didn’t care that much about what the nobles here thought, but the problem was a fair number of his classmates did, not to mention how dislike among the nobility manifested in other annoyances. Additionally, starting out in last would be a huge blow to morale for the rest of the tournaments.

Some sort of intervention was required. For example, if one of the other houses’ representatives was to come down with some oh, _stomach trouble_ , perhaps the Deer would have a fighting chance. However, whatever drama that resulted from slipping something into some heir or heiress’s stew was probably something he could do without. It might do better for the Deer to adopt the role of the underdog and claw their way through the rankings. At least that way there might be some favor to be earned. His first mistake was confiding in Hilda about these thoughts. The second mistake was showing her where he kept some of his vials when she prodded about it. The third mistake was making a joke about potentially courting Edelgard, which pissed Hubert off enough for him to call Claude a “bumbling waste of energy” in front of several Golden Deer.

Claude would not realize the ramifications of these events until he was taking his weekly tea with Edelgard the day before the Reason magic tournament. The regular meetings were something Claude had grown to enjoy- Edelgard was more open-minded than the other nobles he’d met at the monastery, often talking about how too many opportunities were kept away from people on the basis of their family name or whether they had one. It was during one of these meetings where a discussion about a potential reorganization of responsibilities in Adrestia’s government was interrupted by Caspar shouting from the other end of the courtyard as he sprinted towards them.

“Edelgard! Hey! We have a problem!” He stopped short just in front of their table and bent over to catch his breath. From over his shoulder, Claude could see Linhardt leisurely following behind. Whatever relaxed demeanor Edelgard was displaying was gone as she sprang up from her seat.

“What’s wrong, Caspar?” Caspar gulped, then relayed his story hurriedly.

“Linhardt and I were walking back from the training grounds and we pass the latrine, and we hear _screaming_ and a lot of, uh, spilling noises! And we think, ‘gee, that scream sounds sorta familiar’, turns out _Hubert_ had been in there for the past hour _shitting_ his guts out!” On one hand, Claude had to stop himself from smirking because “Hubert shitting his guts out” was not something he thought he’d ever hear, and apparently neither did Edelgard, judging by how she was staring at Caspar wide-eyed and completely dumbstruck. On the other his heart sank because he could probably guess who did it and the potential repercussions were numerous. “So we got Professor Manuela and he’s been in his own corner in the medical bay.”

At this point, Linhardt had caught up, and Claude heard him muttering about “no need to sprint across the monastery”. He strolled up to the group, covering a yawn with his hand. “Professor Manuela said Hubert would be in no condition to compete tomorrow.” Edelgard swore under her breath. Meanwhile, Claude was scrambling to find something to say. Unfortunately, Edelgard noticed this and before Claude’s mouth could form the beginnings of “Best avoid the mess hall today”, Edelgard whirled on him.

“Claude, do you have something to do with this?” Claude couldn’t help but recoil a bit at the harshness.

“Absolutely not.” He replied. An eyebrow quirked immediately in response, and he relented, raising both his hands. “All right, perhaps. But to be honest I’d have to see the damage to be certain.”

“I am not going back there.” Linhardt interjected. “The smell is awful. In fact, my nostrils still retain the memory.”

“Thank you for notifying me, both of you. You can return to your business.” Edelgard told her classmates as she gathered the utensils and teacups together. “But Linhardt,” Edelgard paused to make sure he was paying attention to her.

“Hm?” 

“If Hubert can’t compete, that means you’re taking his place.” Linhardt made to object, but Edelgard cut him off, beginning to stride towards the infirmary. “We’ll discuss it later. Claude, with me.” Claude waved a quick goodbye to Linhardt and Caspar as he jogged a bit to catch up with Edelgard. The walk over to the infirmary was quiet and tense- every time he stole a glance at Edelgard, she was focused firmly forward.

When they reached the infirmary, what they got from Manuela was about the same as they had got earlier. The professor admitted that they _might_ be able to test some of the… excrement for any poison, but opted not to. Hubert was off in a corner, his face paler than Claude had ever seen him, his eyes fixed to the ceiling as if asking Sothis why he was only put in this world to suffer. He stood by the door while Edelgard checked on him, and momentarily she exited.

“Hubert said it happened almost immediately after he finished his lunch.” She informed Claude, watching him carefully. “If it was something with how the food was prepared, I’d expect others besides Hubert to have this issue. But it’s just Hubert. And I do recall you knowing something about poisons. Not to mention you’ve spoken about poisoning adversaries before. _And_ I believe Professor Byleth found a bottle labelled ‘Mild Stomach Poison’ lying around the other day that belonged to you, did it not?”

Claude shrugged. “Suspicious for sure, but we don’t have any hard proof it was the poison you’re mentioning. I’d need to see the vial that I suppose you think got dumped into his stew to confirm it. In other words, proving my guilt warrants investigation that neither of us have the time for, I’d bet.”

“Convenient.” Edelgard scoffed. She crossed her arms looking at the ground for a moment before continuing. “If this was one of your schemes, I am upset to find you don’t respect me or my classmates enough to meet us in the tournament. However, outside the Monastery is not so kind. Perhaps we need to be more vigilant.”

“Well, I’ll save you the agonizing and claim responsibility for it.” Before Edelgard could interrogate him further about it, he went on. “The details will remain my secret, Princess.” Claude made sure to finish it off with the best grin he could pull off, which earned a scowl from the princess.

“Fair enough.” She admitted. “Well, I need to speak to Linhardt regarding the tournament tomorrow. I suspect helping him and Dorothea prepare for tomorrow will take the rest of my day. I suppose all that’s left now is to crush your house in the tournament despite your efforts. I wish you and the Deer good fortune, Claude.”

“Same to you and your house.” Claude nodded to her and she spun on her heel and walked away. Claude watched her depart, considering whether he should give Hilda an earful or congratulate her. He’d figure it out on the way to find her.


End file.
